Important Welcome to ShadowSpear!

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ShadowSpear

ShadowSpear.com
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SOF Mentor
Introductions are not required for new members; however, they are encouraged in order to get acquainted with our community. Feel free to tell us about yourself! Are you in the military? Are you a veteran? Are you a civilian interested in the military? We all like would like to get an idea of who we're talking to!

Please note that we run a tight community and try to provide information that is factually correct. People who pass themselves off as someone they are not are not welcome here. This site is for learning, teaching, and connecting. Remember, no one is forcing you to join this site. You can still read the topics as a guest. Show the other members a little respect, and you will receive some in return.

We are happy to have you here. If you plan on becoming a vetted member, check out the "new users start here" section and the "help desk" tab to start the process. This process is completely confidential (meaning between you and the vetting staff) and we purge the information upon completion.

Please be patient, as we receive many vetting requests and take the time to go over each one individually to ensure the highest levels of accountability among our members.

Thank you for your attention, and again, welcome to ShadowSpear!
 
This is a short introduction to the mindset and protocol here on the site.

First off, Welcome to the site, we hope you learn and gain a sense of community here.

BUT (Yup, there is always one of these), we are a site for, by, and about Special Operations people, that's our main focus - military knowledge from those that have, to those that want to attempt joining Special Operations. All are welcome, but we expect that everyone begin as though they are a guest until they are invited to be part of the team/family.

Many of the senior members have been here since the beginning, or nearly the beginning and are personally acquainted and have shared times - good and bad- together; as a new member you have to respect you will not be part of some of the familiarity. Familiarity takes time, time to learn, time to grow, time to forge relationships. This can take months, years or never happen. We are pretty relaxed, but we all know and respect what vetted military members have accomplished, and at the same time respect the ranks of those individuals - this does slide a bit, especially when you've shared meals, beverages, and events (good and bad) with other ranks. NCOs still razz the Officers, Officers disdain and ignore the Enlisted, and all of us are afraid of Warrant Officers 3 and above - because nobody really knows what they do, only that they wield an ungodly (or rather Godlike) amount of influence and power.

We are a bit hierarchical- hell, we're mostly military, it comes with the territory.

Staff:
On this site the top of the chain is ShadowSpear his own self...yes he really exists, although under many names and in many places.
Next are the Admins - they are like Warrant Officers - scary, shadowy, and with an inordinate amount of power over all who tread here.
The NCOs of the board are the Mods - they enforce the rules set for the board and make sure people understand what is happening here. This site is different - the mods are elected by the membership in good standing that have been active - the voting parameters are posted at the times of the elections.

The staff attempt to be hands-off until something is really going sideways. If you get a correction from a mod, it's best to follow what's been said. If you get corrected twice by a mod- you may get points, a third time you will get points - enough points, you get a temp vacation. If you get a correction from an Admin- stand down in a very quick manner, because it's probably leading to a vacation from the site.

Most of the Mods/Admins are senior members, SOF, or military, and have a long history with the Boss man.

The membership hierarchy- well we have members from around the globe. Military, SOF, LEO, medical and civilian.

Senior Members - you'll know them because they'll have lots of posts, I mean lots of posts - of substance, not just "hellos" on intro threads. Listen to these guys/gals if they give advice, it means something. They may be of any color tag.

SOF (green tags) - veteran and active duty - these are the guys the site is all about and are the mentors for those who want to join their respective branch's SOF unit(s).
SOF Support - those military and veteran members who have been assigned in a support role in an SOF unit, they know things.
Military (black tags) - veterans and active duty, some are here to learn what it takes to join an SOF unit, some just for camaraderie, some to switch branches. They have earned the title Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, Coastie or their country's equivalent.
Sniper - nuff said, these are the real ones, school trained and vetted - the military ones, and the LEO ones
SWAT - again, nuff said.

All of the above are the real deal, vetted, verified and papered... they are the core of the knowledge base, they are the go-to people for questions. Treat them with respect, especially if you are a wannabe.

If you have never been in the military, wish to learn or hope to join - realize that we do not pull a lot of punches verbally, we try not to be deliberately mean or cruel, but it can come across that way to the uninitiated. We enjoy a rough humor, honest but rough.

If you are an SOF hopeful, you will be told to do things by verified members, to study, to research, to stop talking/typing and read, to use the search function... yada, yada... just comply, there is a reason, you will not get spoonfed justifications every time you want them.

If you are doing research - for paper, a book, an article, or whatever... remember, unless you are military, you have almost no clue who or what we are, that's why you're here to research... most of you are not one of us, don't try to be.

The search function on this site is surprisingly effective. Before asking general questions, take some time to review the threads already written on your topic; likely there are many! (Use "rucking" as a good example). Asking the average rucking question is a great way to ensure a collective eyeroll from the membership.

Also, please be wary of attempting to G2 a course. This means trying to get insider information on a course or event within a SOF A&S or course itself. One last thing on searches...Before you begin a thread stating, "I've searched Google for this particular unit and I can find next to nothing...." There might be a reason. Even today, there are still some topics and some units that are absolutely not discussed on an open forum.

Realize that the perceptions of the military by most civilians is tainted by media - fiction - and glorified accounts or exposes... the men and women of the military are of all races, creeds, education levels, and experience levels - the members here are the same, we have officers, enlisted, NCOs, warrants, Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Rangers, SF, SOAR, Recon, MARSOC, PJ, TACP, JTAC, pilots, SEALs, SWCCs, Irish, Polish, Kiwi, Aussie, Brit, French, Argentine, Mexican, Italian, all education levels, MENSA members, multiple college degrees, you name it we probably have a member who fits it. Respect that.

Also respect that as a new person here you are a guest, until you prove you are a member. We are a pretty tight crew, but we've earned each other's respect, friendships, and inside jokes... it takes time, more time and then wait. Watch, learn the community, learn the people, feel your way around. Read profiles, read between the lines in how we interact.

Don't be that guy or girl.
 
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Protecting your PII on ShadowSpear

Here are a few ways we keep your information safe and a few tips you might want to consider:

1. Consider using a new screen name and avatar on this site that you aren’t using on others.
2. Adjust your privacy settings to determine who can view your profile, your specific details, and albums (only available to vetted members).
3. Consider leaving PII off signature lines (vetted members only)
4. Use a strong password and consider using the two step verification option to keep people from logging into your account.

Of course this is all subjective and entirely up to you.

Unverified members: Sorry, but your usergroup has the most restrictions and least amount of access on this site. Consider requesting that your account be upgraded to official member status, providing you meet the requirements (100 posts and at least 180 days on the site).
 
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This is as good a time as any to remind new members to review the community rules, which you should have read during the registration process:

Community Rules

This section covers:

- Screen names

- OPSEC/PERSEC
 
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